Scott was among nine people who appeared before the board to encourage its members to release Moore, a former Emporia church secretary whose illicit affair with minister Tom Bird triggered the murders of their spouses in 1983.

Parole board members Paul Feleciano, Patricia Biggs and Robert Sanders heard public comments Friday about the possible release of Moore and other inmates who will be considered for parole when the board meets with them next month. The board conducted similar public hearings Dec. 15 in Wichita and Monday in Kansas City, Kan.

No one spoke Friday against paroling Moore, a Topeka Work Release Facility inmate. She was transferred there in April from the Topeka Correctional Facility, where Barb Scott said she met Moore almost 20 years ago through her involvement with a United Methodist women's ministry.

Ann Williamson/The Capital-Journal

Friends of Lorna Anderson Moore speak at a Kansas Parole Board hearing on Friday at the Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson. Moore was sentenced in 1988.

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Scott told board members that if Moore is released, "I know that you would never see her again."

Moore's employer, Toni Boyles, told the board that Moore has worked full-time for almost eight months at A Place in Time, a small business Boyles operates at Tecumseh that offers leadership training, management consulting, conference speeches and a retreat facility.

Boyles said Moore's duties include filling out paperwork and negotiating with clients.

Boyles said Moore's release would enable her to care for her elderly parents, who live in Hutchinson.

Boyles acknowledged after appearing before the board Friday that she had feared her business would suffer if word got out that Moore works for her, but nonetheless decided to speak at the hearing.

"She's worth it," Boyles said.

INFORMATION

Written comments about the possible release of Lorna Anderson Moore or any other parole-eligible inmate may be mailed to the Kansas Parole Board at Room 452-S, Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, Topeka, KS, 66612.

Moore was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in 1988 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the 1983 slaying of her husband, Martin Anderson. She had been convicted earlier, in 1984, of soliciting the murders of her husband and of Sandy Bird, the wife of Tom Bird.

Tom Bird in July 1983 killed his wife, pushed her car over an embankment near Emporia, then placed her body in the car, authorities said. Her death was initially ruled an accident.

Four months later, Lorna Moore, her husband and their four daughters pulled to the side of a highway in Geary County after she complained of feeling ill. She got out of the family's van, said she couldn't find her keys and asked her husband to help find them. Martin Anderson was shot by a masked gunman while looking for the keys.

Moore later confessed to her role in her husband's murder and said Tom Bird killed him. Tom Bird denied killing anyone and was acquitted in Geary County District Court of a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of Martin Anderson.

The story was the subject of a 1987 television miniseries, "Murder Ordained."

Bird was paroled in June 2004 and went to live in Wyandotte County with his wife, Terri, a schoolteacher he married while he was in prison. He was released from state parole supervision last July.

Moore was denied release by the parole board in 1988, 1995, 1998, 2000 and last February. Her earliest possible release date is Feb. 1, 2007.

Moore's name was Lorna Eldridge when she first was sentenced to prison. She married Randy Eldridge in 1985, and they were divorced in 1990.

Moore has been married since December 2004 to Terry Moore, who told the parole board Dec. 15 in Wichita that she has earned an associate's degree while in prison and has been a leader in inmate drug treatment programs.

Mark Erickson, a retired school psychologist, told parole board members Friday he has been a friend of Terry Moore's for 40 years and of Lorna Moore's for about 10.

Erickson said Terry Moore met Lorna when he brought one of her daughters to visit her in prison as part of his job as a social worker. Erickson grew teary-eyed as he talked about Terry and Lorna Moore's relationship during her incarceration.

"He's gone out there every Saturday and Sunday for eight years," Erickson said. "I mean, you talk about true love."

No one from Lorna Moore's family appeared at Friday's hearing. Boyles said most members of her family attended the Dec. 15 hearing in Wichita.

The public also may mail comments to the parole board.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com.